“It is my great pleasure to be privileged to present to you, and to the mother who gave you to this service, the first two copies of this issue as the best evidence of the enduring regard of the Post Office Department of the United States.”
These speeches are quoted because better than almost any other capturable entity of those days they reflect the wide scope of the effect Lindbergh’s success had on both governmental and business routine. Surely it is difficult to conceive of a military victor shaking so many foundations, no matter what the might of his mailed fist.
Secretary of State Kellogg next presented Lindbergh with a memorial volume consisting of a compilation of diplomatic exchanges between the State Department and the Foreign Offices of the world in connection with the flight. His words lined in a little more of the bewildering picture of the world’s admiration enfolding before Lindbergh’s frankly astonished gaze.
“Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh,” he slowly and ponderously began, staring hard at the object of his eulogy. “On May 20th and 21st, 1927, the world was electrified by the news of your non-stop flight from New York to Paris. It was a marvelous accomplishment requiring the highest courage, skill and self-reliance. Probably no act of a single individual in our day has ever aroused such universal enthusiasm and admiration. Your great deed is a mile-stone marking scientific advancement.
“You have been congratulated by Kings and Presidents. You have listened to the plaudits of thousands and thousands in Europe and you know the tributes which have been justly paid to you by millions more. You do not now realize the thousands who have expressed their congratulations in letters and telegrams. I have had printed in this little volume only the official telegrams which passed through the Department of State and I take pleasure in presenting to you this volume in commemoration of your epochal achievement.
“Along the highway of human progress, as we look back over the last half century we marvel at the progress in science, the arts and invention. Truly this is a marvelous age and your daring feat will pass into the pages of history.”
Then came Dr. Charles G. Abbott, Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute who informed Lindbergh that the Institute had decided to award him the Langley “Medal of Pioneers.” This honor has in the past been bestowed upon a small but distinguished group such as Orville Wright, Glenn H. Curtiss and Gustave Eiffel. Thus was added to the tribute of press and state the commendation of one of the oldest and finest scientific bodies in the world.
Followed next a medley of messages from special organizations. Greetings from cities touched by Lindbergh in his historic flight from San Diego to Paris were read. St. Louis sent a moving reminder that her people were “waiting for you now impatiently ... waiting since that gray morning when you launched out over the clouds and the sea for Paris.”
There was one from the British Government, something almost without precedent when it is considered that its recipient was a private citizen on a private enterprise. The official bearer read:
“I have been desired by the British Government to express to Colonel Lindbergh on this occasion in behalf of all the people of Great Britain their warm congratulations on the safe return home after his historic flight across the Atlantic. The British people regard Colonel Lindbergh with special admiration and affection not only for his great courage and resource, but also for his equally great modesty in success and generosity in giving their due to other aviators who have gone before.”